Scandal! Juniors in trouble!
by WithoutMorals-Revived
Summary: Inevitably, things settle into a sort of rythm. Destrons attack, Cybertrons show up, they fight for awhile before someone calls it quits and they all go home. But on this occasion, Shuta's carelessness throws a little wrench into the works...


Scandal! Juniors in trouble!

Disclaimer: Transformers, Shuta, Minerva, Metalhawk/ Hawk, Cab, Cybertrons and Destrons are property of Hasbro and Takara and are used without permission.

It was late at night in Japan. Crickets chirped in the bushes while frogs croaked as if celebrating the recent rainfall. A small, modern looking-building stood on top of a mountain, silent as the grave. Only the blinking lights on the vast array of roof-mounted equipment pointed skywards indicated the place was inhabited.

However, this was an illusion. The inhabitants were not living inside said building. No, the inhabitants were living inside the very mountain the building was based on. This unassuming little observatory was in fact a cunning decoy used to hide the secret base of the heroic Cybertrons, defenders of humanity against the malicious forces of the Destrons. Normally, however, only two people actually lived in the base itself. Most of the other Cybertrons had their own lives and homes of their own. One of those two currently sat at the main communications hub, watching the many monitors with a concentrated look on his face.

He appeared to be a young man in his late twenties, with brown hair and a matching brown business suit. Appearances were deceiving, though. This young man was actually a robot warrior millions of years old. While he often used the name Hawk, his true name was Metalhawk, leader of the Cybertron Pretenders and until recently commander of the Cybertrons on Earth. As a Transformer, he didn't need sleep as real humans did so he didn't mind staying up so late and watching for Destron activity. He didn't really expect any trouble, since only earlier that night they'd fought off yet another incursion by the Destron forces.

Such was his concentration that the ringing of a simple telephone surprised him. Looking puzzled (after all, it was well past midnight), Hawk reached for the phone. "Hello?" he said pleasantly.

An unfamiliar voice came over the receiver. "Good..." there was a slight pause, as if the person was checking something, "morning, I suppose I should say."

Hawk said nothing, waiting for the woman on the phone to continue.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Am I talking to Hawk-san?"

"Yes, this is Hawk," he replied. "May I ask who this is?"

"This is Miyako from the Shinsaku International School."

"The school?" Hawk said, puzzled. "And what is the matter, Miyako-san?"

The woman sounded slightly embarrassed. "I understand you're the legal guardian of Professor Go's son, Shuta?"

"That's correct."

"Then would you mind coming down to the school and picking him up?"

Hawk blinked. "Excuse me?"

"We...ah...you see, I'm on duty at the girls' dormitory here at the school and..." there was a pause as the woman took a deep breath, "we...caught Shuta sneaking into the dorm with one of our girls."

'Uh-oh.' Hawk knew who the girl was, and why Shuta was really there. Of course, he couldn't tell the woman since it was in the Cybertrons' best interests to keep a low profile. "I...I understand," he said, trying to sound shocked. "I'm on my way now."

Meanwhile, a young boy of about 12 years of age sat on a chair nervously. He had spiky hair and dark eyes, with tanned skin that suggested he spent much of his time outdoors. He could hear one of the teachers on the phone in the next room. He looked over to the only other occupant of the room, a pretty blonde girl his age. Her blue eyes were clouded with worry and she kept playing with her fingers. She seemed to feel his eyes on her and looked up. "It'll be okay," he mouthed to her. In response, she offered him a weak smile.

"Hawk-san is on his way," the teacher said, walking in from the other room. She stood in front of the boy, frowning. "Honestly, I can't believe you two!" She looked over to the girl. "Minerva-san, I'm so disappointed! Do you know how worried I was when I saw your bed was empty?"

The blonde girl looked even more depressed, not even being able to meet the teacher's gaze. "It wasn't her fault," the boy began, trying to defend her. He quickly realised he'd made a mistake when the teacher turned her glare on him.

"And you, Shuta-kun!" she snapped, making the boy shrink back into his seat. "I'm even more disappointed in you! Sneaking Minerva-san out, and then trying to sneak in with her? What were you thinking?"

"Sensei...it's not what you think!" Shuta said, his natural hotheadness showing through.

Minerva winced as the teacher's face darkened. "Really?" she said sarcastically. "I go on my rounds and find one of my girls missing, then I find you sneaking around the dormitory with her? What possible reason could you have to be here at this time of day?"

Shuta opened his mouth, but Minerva shot a warning glare at him that shut him up. Unluckily, the exchange did not escape the teacher's sight and her frown deepened. She opened her mouth to speak, but a light outside told them a car had pulled up. "Ah, that must be Hawk-san. You wait here, I'm going to go let him in."

The teacher left, her footsteps disappearing down the hallway. After they were sure she was gone, Shuta got up and walked over to where Minerva was sitting. "Hey, Minerva..." he said hesitantly. "Sorry. If I'd gotten you back sooner..."

Minerva shook her head. "No, it's not your fault. You heard her, she already knew I was gone." The half-French girl sighed. "It's my own fault for not closing the door properly when we left."

"No, it's my fault," Shuta insisted, joining the girl on the sofa. "If I hadn't rushed you, you would've remembered."

Minerva stood up. "But if you didn't have to come get me every time the Destrons attack, you wouldn't have had to sneak in and get into trouble in the first place."

"No, it's my fault," Shuta said insistently, rising to his feet so they were eye-to-eye.

"No, it's mine," Minerva replied just as insistently.

"No, mine!"

"No, mine!"

This went on for a bit before a thought occured to Shuta. "You know," he said, interrupting Minerva. "It's not our fault."

Minerva blinked and waited for him to continue. "You see," the Junior Headmaster began, "I had to go get you because of the Destrons, right?"

"Uh-huh," the girl agreed, not sure where he was going with this line of thought.

"Well, then it's all the Destrons' fault!" Shuta grinned, as though he'd solved some huge problem. "If not for them, I wouldn't have had to come here and we wouldn't have gotten into trouble!"

Minerva stared at her fellow Cybertron, who had a huge smile on his face. It was a ridiculously childish example of logic, but it suited him somehow. She began to giggle, which started Shuta chuckling as well. Soon, both of them were laughing, flopping onto the couch together. Minerva looked thoughtful. "You know," she said, "If not for the Destrons, I wouldn't have met you or Cab, or Hawk-san and Jinrai-san and the rest."

Shuta looked down. "And my father would still be alive."

Minerva winced. She'd forgotten that Shuta's father had been murdered by the Destrons when they destroyed the original Cybertron base. And she was supposed to be the sensitive one. "Sorry," she murmured.

"It's okay. I mean...I wish my father was still here, but..." Shuta looked at Minerva and gave her a huge smile. "Like you said, I've met all sorts of great people too. I mean, we wouldn't have met if we hadn't been trying to stop the Destrons."

"Um," Minerva nodded. The two fell into a surprisingly uncomfortable silence. Normally, they could get along just fine, but this was not a situation that lent itself to conversation. It also didn't help they were suddenly very self-conscious of each other's gender and how close they were sitting.

"So-"

"Um-"

The two paused. "You go ahead," Shuta said.

"No, you go first," Minerva insisted.

"No, ladies first."

"It's okay, you spoke first."

Another pause soon followed. Then they began to laugh at how wierdly they were acting. Just then, the door slid open. The two abruptly stopped laughing when they caught sight of the look on the teacher's face. she stalked in, followed by a serious-looking Hawk.

"Hawk-san..." "Hawk..."

"I'm so glad to see you're having a good time," the teacher said sarcastically. The two Headmaster Juniors got the hint and moved as far apart as they could.

"Shuta," Hawk said, his voice even. "I'm very disappointed in you. Sneaking out without permission? Driving down the mountain late at night? Sneaking into the girls' dormitory? What would your father say?"

Shuta's eyes widened in shock. Hawk knew why he was really here. This betrayal stung. "B-but..." Then he saw it. The slightest flutter of Hawk's eye, telling him 'Play along'. 'Oh, I get it,' the spiky-haired teen thought to himself. 'He's trying to keep the real reason secret.' He tried to look ashamed, looking down at the floor. "Sorry, Hawk," he mumbled, even as he tried to fight a grin down.

"Minerva, I'm disappointed in you too," Hawk continued, turning his attention on the half-French girl. "You parents entrusted you to me. How can I face them if they hear about this? They might even decide to pull you out of the school!"

To Shuta's alarm, Minerva suddenly looked like she was going to cry. "Aa, Hawk-san, I don't think it's necessary to inform Minerva-san's parents," the teacher cut in.

This was what Hawk had been gambling on. It would not look good for the school if word got out a boy had managed to sneak into the female dorms, no matter how innocent his excuse was. Especially considering Minerva's father was of no small importance. "Hm." Frowning, he looked over to the teacher. "I'm responsible for Minerva as well, so I suppose I could keep it quiet." He glared meaningfully at the two teens. "As long as this doesn't happen again."

"It won't!" "It won't, Hawk-san!" the two chorused.

Apparently satisfied, Hawk turned to the clearly relieved teacher. "Then, shall we consider this matter closed?"

"Of course," the teacher replied. "But, Shuta-kun, I don't want to find you around here again, understood?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Hawk nodded. "Alright. Let's get home. I want to hear about just what happened on the way." The way he said it made Shuta wince. He expected to be chewed out for his carelessness, but decided to grin and bear it. "Good night, then," Hawk said to the teacher, who returned his farewell. "Minerva, good night."

"Good night, Hawk-san," the blonde replied. "Good night, Shuta. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow," the brown-haired boy waved as he followed Hawk out.

The next day, Cab, the plucky, hot-headed prince of his own islands all but skipped into class. Dumping his bag on his desk, he dashed out to the class Shuta and Minerva were in. Sliding the door open, he peeked in and saw his two friends sitting at their desks, their heads in their arms. "Morning, you two!" he sang as he dragged a chair loudly across the floor and plopped down before them. "Nothing better than beating up the Destrons to help you get a good night's sleep, eh?"

To his surprise, his comment (and the dragging) were met with two pairs of bloodshot eyes. "Awww, shaddap," Shuta and Minerva growled in unison as they dropped their heads back into their arms and tried to get some extra sleep.

"Huh," Cab muttered as he got up (quietly) and all but crept out of the class. "Must not be morning people."

END

Author's notes: This is inspired by something I read about in the Masterforce manga. In it, Shuta apparently has to pick Minerva up from her dorm whenever the Cybertrons need to head out to oppose the Destrons. The thought that prompted this fic was, "What if they got caught sneaking back in?" 


End file.
